Saturday, June 12, 2010

For some odd reason I had a hankering for risotto the other day. So I made some. Maybe it's because I have not had risotto for a while, maybe it was the broccoli, or maybe it was the nooch, but I totally loved this dish and could not get enough. It could also be the fact that I made my own veggie broth. Usually I just use water, thinking, "Hey, I'm cooking with veggies so it'll turn into veggie broth on its own. Right?" I did not make a real production of it, just 7 cups of water, a diced onion, carrot, celery stalk and leaves, and some parsley boiled for 30 mins. Easy. And totally worth it.

METHOD1. Heat large saucepan over med-hi heat. Add oil and margarine and saute shallots and garlic for a few mins, until soft but not brown.2. Add rice and cook, stirring constantly, for a few mins until it gets that translucent look. Add salt and pepper, then about 1/2 cup of broth. Bring to bubbling, stirring, until reduced. Then add wine and repeat.3. Keep adding broth and stirring, letting to reduce each time (the whole process is going to take about 20 minutes). You will probably want to reduce the heat to medium.4. When you are down to your last cup and a half or so of broth (about 5-8 minutes from being done), add the broccoli. They key is to have small florets so they cook quickly. Keep adding broth as per usual, until rice is tender and broccoli is cooked. You may not use all the broth.5. Remove from heat and stir in nooch and margarine. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

Any suggestions for someone who does not use alcoholic products of any kind? I'm thinking Balsamic Vinegar or maybe Apple cider vinegar... Any experience with these, thoughts on amounts or other such suggestions?

We made this tonight and it is the best risotto we've ever made! We were skeptical I'll admit, but you really know how to work this classic dish. The only addition we made was two fresh bay leaves which gave it a wonderful flavor. The rice cooked quicker than we thought, so the broccoli didn't have time to cook fully, only about 3/4 cooked, and honestly the slight crispness made the dish even better. Also we added one cube of "Not chicken" bullion to six cups of broth, which was more than enough. Yum! Thank you!

Though my omni boyfriend was wary of me adding nutritional yeast flakes to something he was going to eat, I made this for him and he LOVED it! He couldn't wait for his lunch break the next day so he could have it again. So lovely to hear, so thanks for the recipe!

I didn't have any shallots handy so I added one whole Spanish onion and instead of the 1/4 cup wine I used like half of the bottle, haha.

I made this awhile ago and I LOVED it. This was the first vegan dish I made that my partner actually liked and helped open his mind to veg food. He is now vegetarian! We have also served this to our meat-loving family and they have loved it too and think it has a "chicken-y" taste. I've had risotto at restaurants after making this and they pale in comparison! I'm glad I tried this one first.

Thank you this was fabulous! I used Not-Chick'n broth as its box directs: 1/2 cube per cup water, and this was way too salty - I should have noticed someone else's comment about using less Not-Chick'n. But this recipe still turned out great because I added less salt in the beginning and started tasting early, and just used water instead of most of my broth. Thank you to the person who said they use extra broth instead of the wine because I didn't have any white wine so just used more water. Definitely don't forget the nooch, I did until after we already ate the first servings but the nooch makes it awesome! And I almost never prefer anything with nooch vs without it. I also just did 2 tbsp of olive oil at the beginning, instead of any marg at the beginning or end and it still tasted really rich. And if anyone is worried about frozen broccoli, I just thawed a bag and chopped it up and barely cooked it in the risotto at all, so it was still a nice bright green. I also used regular long grain white rice, probably used more liquid than arborio but it was nice and risotto-y in the end.

I've made this recipe 4 times now, and it's been amazing/perfect every single time. It's super easy and such a satisfying dish. I sauté oyster, shitake and cremini mushrooms in a separate pan and add towards the end for even more decadence.